308 VILLAGE GREENS. 
marked circular camp, corresponding to that on Cadbury 
Hill, on the other side of the marshy valley which 
stretches from Clevedon to Portbury; and those who 
climb the hillside to reach the level ground are rewarded 
by a splendid view. The villagers of Walton-in- 
Gordano set great store on their Common Hill as their 
place of recreation. The turf is close and soft and 
springy, as it always is on the tops of these limestone 
hills, and the sheep and horses of the Commoners kept 
the grass always short. The Common is in the Manor 
of Walton, which is vested in the Trustees of Sir C. 
Miles, the owner of Leigh Court, who is also owner of 
most of the land in the parish. 
The Lord of the Manor had from time to time 
bought up any land for sale in the parish, with the 
object of extinguishing the rights of common; and a 
series of aggressions took place, in the shape of inclosures 
of parts of the Common. The object apparently was to 
convert the Common into a game preserve. The 
villagers, tenants of the owner, who had been in the 
habit of turning out animals to graze on the hill, were 
warned not to do so, and so far as they were concerned, 
the warning was equivalent to a command, as they had 
but two alternatives, namely, to submit or to leave the 
parish. A considerable fringe of the Common was in- 
closed and planted. Barbed wire fences were erected 
across it. ‘Thorns were planted in various parts of it. 
The footpaths over the hill were blocked up. A large 
portion of the Common was stocked with rabbits, and 
the shooting on it was let. 
